The Legend of Zelda: Phantom HourglassReview

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The Legend arrives on Nintendo DS.

By Mark Bozon

Over the years the Zelda franchise has evolved quite differently depending on if you're looking at the console side of things, or just the portable world. While the "main" series - if you can call it that - has progressed from classic 2D top-down to 3D, continuing to deliver the same enchanting, epic feeling from iteration to iteration, Link's portable ventures have been a bit skewed. It began humbly with Game & Watch, moved then to Link's Awakening - a pure pocket Zelda - only to morph into the Capcom-created Oracle of Ages/Seasons world, evolving yet again into the Four Swords-like design of Minish Cap on GBA, and finally residing here on DS with The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass as a fully touch-based, 3D Zelda set in the world of Wind Waker. Is it the Zelda many of us expected? No. But the legend still lives on.

From the moment it was revealed it was quite obvious that Nintendo was sending a message to the world with The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass. First and foremost, the game is a pure testament to both the power and innovative aspects of DS, delivering an overall product that will blow gamers away visually, stylistically, and cinematically. At the same time, Phantom Hourglass also delivers a message direct from Nintendo's "every-gamer" stance, as it's lighthearted, more casual in its overall manner, and touch-driven; attributes that are aimed to captivate any and every DS owner out there. The spirit of the Zelda franchise is still there of course, but it's as if Nintendo went back and morphed the core design into something that could appeal to a much wider audience.

In The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass players again assume the role of a green-clad hero who, for the sake of continuity, we'll refer to as Link. The story is taken directly from the Wind Waker world on GameCube, basically picking up where the last game left off, as Link and Tetra sail off into the sunset. The game opens with the two of them manning Tetra's ship as they search for the infamous Ghost Ship that is said to sail the seven seas. After a pretty engaging opening, Tetra of course fulfills her role as the damsel in distress, and it's up to Link to get her back. It's classic Zelda storytelling, and we wouldn't have it any other way. From there Link meets up with a loud-mouthed fairy named Ciela and a Jack Sparrow-like treasure hunter named Linebeck, and the story kicks off.

Right off the bat you'll notice that Phantom Hourglass brings an impressive amount of cinematic presentation to the table. The graphical style is of course a play off the cel-shaded Zelda, but what really gives the game the "pocket Cube" feel to it is that every scene is shot with theatrics in mind, as there's a ton of emotion and depth to the characters. You're also going to notice, however, that the game can be a bit long-winded for the Zelda purists out there, and that constant commentary by Linebeck, Ciela, or numerous other characters in the world will continue well into the back half of the game. This of course improves the relationship between the gamer and the cast, but we can also see hardcore Zelda fans wishing the game would just back off and let them be on their way.

And when moving into the core of the gameplay this "casual vs. hardcore" aspect that Zelda's new attitude will inevitably bring is even more apparent. The controls, as mentioned, are entirely touch-based, so players looking for the classic Zelda feel will need to adapt to using a stylus instead of a d-pad. There's no way around it, no alternate control scheme, and the game doesn't apologize for its drastic change, even poking fun at the hardcore in one of the final dungeons by having a ghost of a fallen warrior mention that his desire for d-pad controls was his "only regret" in life. It's pretty obvious Nintendo wanted to change things up a bit this time around, and love it or hate it, Phantom Hourglass is a touch-only game.